Wednesday, 13 May 2015

CMD ARETE BEN NEVIS

The team enjoying the exposure on the CMD arete
NE Buttress Ben Nevis
Len getting to grips with some scrambling
AFine views all the way

Final slopes to the summit of The Ben still holding snow
Early evening light on the north face
Virtually no snow on the arete
Summit celebrations, over 2m of snow on the summit area
Gem enjoying the evening views from the plateau
A beautiful day in store, light winds and sunshine. It was the day for Ben Nevis. The team excited as we made an early start. There was some cloud still lingering above 1000m but as the day wore on the sun came out and we enjoyed wonderful views. There is only just the odd insignificant patches of soft snow left on the arete. The final slopes onto the summit of The Ben is still snow and the plateau area down to 1000m still has snow too. It was all soft by the time we got to the summit at a rather late 5pm but with glorious evening weather it didn't matter. The team all smiles despite two sets of hire boots almost crippling Gem and Nigel! They broke through the pain barrier though as we made a quick descent down The Red Burn which is snow down to 900m. Great day! How do I top this for them tomorrow?

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